Many Rivers To Cross

Beverley sent me a copy of a letter last night written by a New York editor of a respected publishing house. In it, he details his great admiration for the book, confesses that he read it to the end, and then meticulously  enumerates what he feels is missing. It's two pages long and, no matter how defensive I may be to criticism, I had to marvel at the insight he shared and the care he took.

I'm probably not done writing this book.

There simply is no doubt that it can be made better. It has undergone dramatic changes in both form and content based on the heap of comments from my brilliant readers already. I glanced at the first draft, two years old now, and it's hardly recognizable. 

I'm a new writer but I'll bet this is true. The closer a book gets to being very good, the more glaring its weaknesses become. And the temptation to punk out is never greater. Beverley and I have yet to decide on a course of action, but I'm leaning toward taking up said editor on his offer to talk with him about how I might bring it home.

Joy's late father wrote, as have many unpublished wannabes, a book that exists in a bound version only because he went to the expense himself. To have come this far and meet that fate would be very depressing.

Whoever it was that first said writing is rewriting was not kidding around.

Rub Of The Green by Brock Walsh will, with a little luck, appear in bookstores soon.
Contact brockwalsh@gmail.com

Shoulder To The Plow

Had a good chat with Beverley, my agent, last night and learned that there is some interest out there from our first foray. I'm keeping a lid on my excitement level, never easy and contrary to my December premature elation (not a misspelling). So with new measured enthusiasm, I place shoulder to plow and resume digging.

It's a delicate balance, allowing yourself enough hope to keep up the fight without succumbing to that embarrassing chicken counting followed by crow tartare. Being the excitable type (read Irish), I'm prone to the latter. And difficult though it may be to take on these unlikely pursuits, it's far preferable to the daily dreamless slog we face without them.

I've also received some great advice on how to make this site an enjoyable destination, replete with pix and video and, who knows-- recipes?

Thanks for initial burst of support and good wishes. I'll try to walk that middle ground between punking out and inundating with gobs of gibberish.

Rub Of The Green by Brock Walsh will, with a little luck, appear in bookstores soon.

Contact brockwalsh@gmail.com 

Oh, good, another page

At my eldest's behest, created a FB page for the completed and yet unpublished Rub Of The Green with the following proviso:

Spent the last 10 years watching the music business go the way of that 'cake out in the rain' and arrived at the publishing world's doorstep just in time to learn that it's celebrities only. So it's time to play make-enough-noise-to-get-heard or die trying.

By joining, you can either be part of the excitement as we go from promising longshot to Oprah's darling, or watch a grown man submit to endless humiliation and ultimately be rendered disgraced and penniless!

Here's what we're saying to prospective publishers:

Rub of the Green

In Golf and Life You Play it as it Lays

In a chaotic and uncertain world, the goals we set can soothe our fears and guide our destiny. Brock Walsh, a Los Angeles songwriter and avid golfer, pursued a two-year quest to shoot a round of "level par", a feat achieved by one amateur golfer in a thousand. What he didn't know was that life was cuing up its own slew of challenges that would test him far more.

Walsh takes us on a wild ride of harrowing reversals and surprising victories. He is betrayed by his business partner, loses his job, has to fight to keep his home, while his wife battles a life-threatening drug resistant bacteria. Staring into this dark vista, he is forced to contemplate deeper issues of aging, courage, and self. For Walsh, who has had a stellar career writing songs for the major stars of his generation, the change in fortune could not have been more vertiginous.

Rub of the Green is a golf story, a love story, and a life story. Whether he takes us backstage with the Rolling Stones, in the studio with Michael Jackson, or down the tree line with the dawn patrol, Walsh weaves a tale that is smart, funny, and heartbreakingly real.

Available, with a little luck, in bookstores soon.

After graduating from Harvard, Walsh began his professional life as a touring musician with Linda Ronstadt, Karla Bonoff, and Andrew Gold with whom he produced the hits "Lonely Boy" and "Thank You For Being A Friend". He was a staff producer for Quincy Jones and has written and produced for such artists as Christina Aguilera, Celine Dion, The Pointer Sisters, and Aretha Franklin.